A Daughter By Chance
by Angelangermanagement
Summary: Jem and Will found her, and with Tessa's help they are taking care of her. Ella is a seven year old, found by the London shadowhunters, being attacked by a clockwork creature, they save her only to find out later she is Mortmain's adopted daughter. They become attached to the young child and are determined to protect her, but at what cost? Set after Clockwork Prince.
1. Saving Ella

**Ella's P.O.V**

A girl gazed out the window, her silky brown hair tumbling down her back. Rain slammed against the window, wind screaming. She stared at us running up to the magnificent building; my hand gripped the silver headed boy's as he hurried me along, worry written all over his gentle face.

"Come on, we are almost there." The boy urged. My knees buckled under me and I plummeted to the ground, cold, muddy water splashed into my face, streaking it with mud. The older boy scooped me up and into his arms, my head against his chest protecting me from the icy wind. The heat of the building surged over us as he pushed his way into the doors. Dropping to the floor he protectively held me as others ran forward; one of them was the brown haired girl. She held a blanket, and wrapped it around me; lifting me and scurrying away down a dimly lit corridor. My small eyes began to flicker, the face that carried me blurred and the world around me spun. Everything began to go dark, but I didn't fear I was safe now.

**Tessa's P.O.V**

The little girl shook in my arms; she was pale as a ghost, cheeks sunken in and small body abnormally skinny. She must have had a hard life and needed to be taken care of. I gently laid her down and took off her dress so she was just wearing her underclothing then tucked her under the covers. Footsteps behind me brought my gaze away from the young child.

It was Will, his dark hair fell over his face in wet clumps, and his clothes hung off him limply. He and Jem had been out on a mission and found her. I didn't know the whole story yet, but would find out probably when she was feeling better.

"Will she be okay?" Will whispered. He glided forward so he stood over the bed, regarding the child carefully.

"She needs to be cared for. I believe they treated her horribly wherever she last was. Poor girl, nobody should have to go through what she did." I sat on the bed next to her, brushing her wet hair out of her eyes.

"I am thankful we found her, she might be dead if we didn't. I think you should go see Jem soon, he's exhausted but wanted to see you." Will hummed. I bobbed my head and stood up, my dress falling back into place. "I will keep an eye on her, of course." Leaving the room, I took one more glance at the girl then made my way to Jem's room where he too lay on his bed, covered in blankets.

"Jem, how are you feeling?" I raced toward him and collapsed onto the bed, taking his hand in mine. His lips were tinted with blue, hair still soaking, but his eyes were filled with life.

"I am fine, just cold and tired. How's the child?" He worried so much more about others then himself, of course he would be thinking of her right now. I gave his hand a squeeze and lightly brushed my lips against his.

"She's safe, and being taken care of. Now close your eyes and let yourself sleep. You need it, and can see her when you wake up and get some food into you." His lips curved into a smile. "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." I curled up next to him, and listened to his soft breathing, we were both silent, but comforted by one another's company. Soon enough I heard his breathing change, indicating he had fallen asleep. Slowly and carefully I dragged myself up and kissed his cheek. It was time for me to get some sleep.

**Ella's P.O.V**

I twisted and turned throughout the night, nightmares of the horrifying monsters that haunted me in my waking hours crept into my mind. Whenever I woke up I was in tears, I feared that they were actually around me like they were not too long ago, but it was only a dark headed boy, fast asleep in the corner chair. He was one of the boys that had saved me; he had destroyed the clockwork creature that had attacked me while the other boy had gotten me away. He made me feel so much safer than being alone and I would go back to sleep only to find myself with the same scary nightmares.

I finally woke up to the sun peeking through the large glass window; two people were in my room with me now, the brown haired girl and black haired boy.

"Good morning sweetie. How are you feeling?" The girl's voice was beautifully calm.

"I feel okay." My voice was small compared to hers.

"That's good; would you like to come get some food? I'm Tessa and this is Will. Do you know your name? Do you know how old you are?" She purred.

"I am so hungry, yes; I would love some food, thank you Tessa. I'm Ella, and I'm seven years old." I crawled out of my bed and gazed up at them. Tessa held out her slim hand letting me take it. She led me through the building with Will following us, into a huge dining room where the smell of freshly baked rolls filled my nose. I was sat down and allowed to fill myself up. This was all so much better than my old home, I was sure hoping they would let me stay, and not force me to go back to him, he would hurt me, they would not.


	2. Mortmain is My Father

**Tessa's P.O.V**

Sitting beside Ella, I watched her dig into the fresh rolls and fruit. She must have not had good food for a while, or by the look of her too thin body, at all. Her blonde hair rolled over her shoulders in knots, light blue eyes a glow with happiness.

"Are you enjoying that?" An uncontrollable smile crept onto my face.

"It's delicious; he doesn't let me have food like this. It's usually just this yucky mush." She paused a moment and scrunched up her delicate face. I couldn't help but frown at her comment.

"Who's 'he'?" I murmured. Jem rounded the corner, obviously delighted to see her up and eating, just as I was to see him up, and joined us. Just in time to hear Ella explain.

"He's my adopted father. I don't know my real parents; they left me when I was just a baby. I always wonder who they are. Father is such a mean man, he makes the clockwork people take care of me, and they aren't that nice either. And when he does see me, he hurts me." She glanced down at her hands and concentrated on bringing food to her mouth.

"Wait, did you say clockwork people? What's your father's name?" Will blurted out, clearly surprised. I had been wondering the same question.

"Axel Mortmain." Ella said quickly. I heard the clink of Jem dropping his spoon and Will's confused grunt. I couldn't believe what she had just said either. "Why do you all look surprised?" The little girl questioned.

"We… know who he is, and he isn't a very nice man." I hummed, hoping not to hurt Ella's feelings, but from the sound of it, she didn't like him much. She nodded her head knowingly.

"He wants to destroy the shadowhunters. You guys are shadowhunters, is he talking about you?"

**Ella's P.O.V**

I buttered my third bun, zoning in and out of people's conversations. Most of them I didn't really understand, making me wish that I was older. It was about me and my father from what I heard; these were the people my father wanted to kill. Why he would do that to such nice people, it would never make sense to me. They were right, he was evil. As I left my own thoughts I caught what they were talking about now, what to do with me.

"No way are we letting her go back to him! I do not care what he will do to get her back, she can't live with him, she needs to be cared for and loved. We are the only ones who can. No child should be raised by clockwork creatures." Tessa screeched giving me a hopeful look and placing her hand over mine.

"I agree with Tessa, it's too dangerous for her to live with Mortmain, she has to stay here." Will snapped. I raised my voice so they could hear,

"I want to stay here; you are all so much nicer. I believe if I went back that he would beat me for running away." A shudder raced through me, memories of the pain I had gone through spinning in my mind. The oldest one of them, Charlotte massaged her forehead and stood up.

"I think we have all decided. Ella can stay, but we have to take extra precautions. If Mortmain wants her back, than he will go to extremes. And we all have to be prepared for that, do you understand?" Everyone let out a chorus of yeses and Tessa threw her arms around me giving me a tight squeeze. I wrapped my shorter arms around her waist and gazed up at her. There was warmth in her eyes, tender and caring.

"I will protect you through anything Ella." She whispered.

**Tessa's P.O.V**

With Ella's hand in mine I led her up to where the shadowhunters stored their old items, searching through the chests I discovered exactly what I was looking for. Jessamine's chest of her old clothing, pulling it out, I held a dress up for Ella to see, I discovered it would be almost the perfect size, maybe a little loose.

"How about these? You will look adorable." The outfits were gorgeous, just like the clothes Jesse used to wear. Ella brought her slim fingers up to run them down the dress I held; the cloth was smooth and most likely comfortable.

"They are beautiful, Tessa, I will be so lucky to wear them." Balancing the chest in my arms, I wobbled through the hallway back to Ella's room with her trailing behind me. Once inside we cleaned her up, brushing the knots out of her thick hair and washing the dirt off of her, and dressed her in the clothing. She reminded me so much of Jessamine, besides the blue eyes. "Thank you so much!" I sat on my knees and just as she said those words she ran into me, arms collecting me in an embrace.

"You look lovely, sweetie." Together we left the room, prepared to show everyone her new clothes, and to Ella's delight they all ooed. Will even scooped her up and began to dance with her, swinging her in his arms, she let out childish giggles causing everyone else to laugh. Before I knew it we all were up and moving, even Jem, he spun me around and dipped me, a wide smiling spreading on his face. We were having such a good time, until Sophie came rushing into the room.

"Someone left a letter on the doorstep; I found it when I was going to water the garden. Nobody knocked, or anything. I believe it is for Miss Tessa." I moved toward her, worry filling my every step. Carefully opening the letter, I skimmed it over, my whole body going ridged.

It was from Mortmain, he knew we had Ella and he said he would do anything to get her back. It scared me more than his threats to destroy us all, because this time, an innocent child was involved.


	3. Clockwork Creatures

**Will's P.O.V**

I froze in mid swirl as I caught sight of Tessa, she had slumped in a chair, eyes scanning over the letter that Sophie had given her. Fear and anger lit up her gorgeous grey eyes. Everyone else surrounded her, wanting a chance to read it as well. Suddenly, I felt a small warm hand reach up and brush my cheek.

"Will, what is going on?" Ella's soft voice rang in my ears. I gazed into her eyes, knowing that although she was young, she had seen a lot.

"I do not know, Ella." Glancing back over to Tessa I noticed Jem was now sitting at her knees, struggling to reassure her. "Do you want to go to the library? I can read you a story." I would find out what was going on later, and by the look on everyone's faces, this wouldn't be something a child should hear.

"What kind of story?" She had wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head against my shoulder, letting out a yawn. Leaving the room quietly I whispered,

"One you are sure to love." Arriving in the library we chose out a book, one that she would be able to understand, and curled up in an arm chair. I began to read, changing my voice for each character, making her giggle. Soon though, she fell quiet, and by the sound of her heavy breathing I knew she was asleep.

**Tessa's P.O.V**

"Tessa." Jem's voice floated up, he had taken away the letter and was now looking worriedly at me. In one hand he gripped the letter and in the other was my hand. "We need a plan."

"I know we do! But we also can't scare Ella, she doesn't need it." I snapped without meaning to. A look of hurt flashed over him and I quickly regretted being so rude. But he still gave my hand a squeeze.

"I understand, maybe you should go relax and let us handle this. Just pay attention to Ella right now." I bobbed my head and leaned back, letting my eye lids fall shut. I heard feet shuffling and some muffled whispers and a few minutes later, when I opened my eyes, the only person in the room was Sophie, bringing me a cup of tea.

"Thank you Sophie." I mumble before she wandered away. As I sipped my tea I let myself fall into thought. How could we destroy Mortmain before he did it to us, how could we kill the clockwork creatures, how would we protect Ella? Ella. I sat up in my seat, spilling a splash of tea on my dress, where had Ella gone? I slammed my tea on the side table and ducked out of the doorway, hurrying down the hall. She had been with Will before the letter, and Will really enjoyed going to the library. Once I arrived I opened the door, and inside, in a chair sat the both of them, fast asleep. Will's head was tipped back and Ella lay, snuggled up against his chest, head curled into his arm, which were around her.

I couldn't help but let out a squeak of happiness, Will was finally letting people into his life. Leaving silently I headed to my room, and read a book, it was the only to take my mind off of Mortmain.

**Ella's P.O.V**

I woke up to see Will's sleepy face above me; he had been reading to me earlier and was now fast asleep. Carefully, I crawled off of him and left the library, I wanted to go for a walk with Tessa, but where could she be in this huge building?

"Tessa!" I yowled; my footsteps were almost soundless as I made my way down the dark corridors. One of the doors opened ahead of me, and out popped a girl's head, with long brown hair. "There you are!" I ran up to her and hugged her legs. "Can we go for a walk?" I begged, bringing my head up so we could make eye contact. It couldn't be that late out, when I had looked out the window there was a bit of light still peeking through the clouds. Tessa bit her lip, debating on what to do.

"I guess, but we need to be alert, we don't want to run into any creatures." With our coats on we left the institute. The cool wind sent shivers down my back and the light fall of rain chilled my cheeks. We somewhat leisurely wandered the cobblestone roadway, Tessa keeping a close eye on everyone that passed us. Finally we came to a stop in the park, no one was there but an older gentleman with a cane and a hat covering most of his worn out looking face. Flopping onto the damp grass I let my imagination run wild. Before I knew it though, Tessa was shaking me to get up.

**Tessa's P.O.V**

"Ella, we have to go, now." I lifted her to her feet and was nudging her away from the old man that had been sitting on the bench earlier. But the thing was he wasn't actually an old man. He was now moving toward us with an incredible speed. His hat had been thrown off by the wind and his face a bunch of moving gears, with what looked like skin on the lower half. The cane was now held up like a spear, somewhat like what Jem had, and he was holding a knife as well.

"It's him, one of the creatures that took care of me, he would use that cane to beat me." Ella sobbed, tripping over her own two feet. I grabbed her and eased her up into my arms, and began to run as fast as I could manage holding her, and really, it wasn't that fast at all. Especially not enough to outrun the clockwork man who was gaining on us quickly.


	4. Attacked and Injured

**Tessa's P.O.V**

My arms were wrapped around Ella, one hand cupped the back of her head as we ran, and her eyes peeked over my shoulder.

"Tessa!" She choked in horror, but her warning came too late, a sharp pain raced through my back where the creature's knife had scraped. I tumbled forward, landing hard; struggling to ignore the intense pain in my back. Rolling over my arms let loose of Ella just as it came at me, bringing my foot up I slammed it into its stomach, shoving it backwards. This gave me barely enough time to get up, and once I did the creature was ready for me.

It lunged forward slicing the knife sideways and skimming my cheek, if I hadn't stepped backwards at that very moment the gash would have been much deeper.

"Ella, get to that tree over there and try to climb it." I stammered as I dodged the next attempted to attack me. With a quick glance over, I saw Ella, and to my relief she was already heading to the tree, but this gave the clockwork creature a chance to pounce. It slammed into me knocking me into the ground, its metal fists crashing into my stomach, the air being knocked out of me. There was no way I would be able to get out of this situation; I could barely defend myself let alone fight clockwork creatures and protect someone like the shadowhunters could.

**Ella's P.O.V**

The tree loomed up over me, there were few branches that were low enough for me to reach but there still were enough. I clambered up the first branch, gripping the trunk as I scooted my way up. I didn't know if Tessa would be alright, by the sound of it the clockwork man was still there, and she was trying her best to fight it. If Will or Jem were here everything would be fine, but they weren't and there was nothing we could do about it.

A few branches up I froze and twisted around, gazing down at where I had last been, Tessa lay on the ground, eyes shut and bruised just like the rest of her, and her body lay still, too still. And now, the man was making his way toward the tree and me.

**Will's P.O.V**

Popping my head into the dining room doorway I noticed everyone else was sitting at the table, papers covering it.

"Has anyone seen Tessa and Ella?" I wondered as I sauntered into the room, leaning against the wall I waited for an answer.

"Wasn't Ella with you? Tessa should be in the living room. Maybe they are somewhere together." Jem glanced up from a paper he was jotting notes on. I shook my head vigorously.

"I've checked everywhere, Jem. Do you want to come help me search? What if they left the institute?" Jem hopped up and together we went up to Tessa's room, where we found her coat gone. "They left…"

"They probably just went for a walk." He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze but I could tell he was worried as well. "We should go find them though." Grabbing our jackets and a few weapons we hurried out the door and made our way to our first guess. The park, a good walking place, where Tessa enjoyed being. And our guess was correct; up ahead we noticed a laying figure and a man, with jerky movements hiking toward a tree were a child was sobbing.

"It's a clockwork creature and the girls." Jem said in a hushed voice. With shadowhunter speed I ran ahead with Jem struggling to keep up. With as much force as I could muster I threw myself at it, we fell together just as Jem came up beside me, blade in hand. I positioned myself so Jem could aim and stab it and just as I did so, its arm shot up holding a knife, and rammed it into my arm.

"Ahhh!" A wail rose from my throat as the creature tugged it out and re aimed, this time toward my chest. Jem surged forward, feet smashing into its face and arms, the metal cracked under his unbelievable force; he slowed down as the creature began to stop. My hand gripped my upper arm, keeping the blood in, as I stood up. Ella dropped from the tree and ran over to Tessa, her blue eyes concerned.

**Ella's P.O.V**

Together, Jem and Will, carried Tessa home, somehow Will held her and kept a hold on his own bleeding arm. Being shadowhunters they would be able to heal it once they got back to the institute. Tessa on the other hand could not, but at least she was alive. We arrived back and Charlotte quickly took over taking care of Tessa and Jem with Will went to care for Will's arm, I was left with Sophie, who washed me up and got Bridgett to make some food for me. All of my thoughts were aimed at my worry for Tessa's injuries, and I sat, nibbling on some meat for the news as to whether Tessa was alright.


	5. I Promise

**Will's P.O.V**

It had been a couple of days after the attack, and with Tessa still recovering, Jem and I were working on a plan with the help of Charlotte. I leaned over the table, my eyes flickering across the letter then back down to the books in front of me. It was another letter from Mortmain. Telling us he warned us and the next attack would be worse. The books were a list of all the shadowhunter weapons out there. Ella sat across from me, playing around with a doll Jem had found for her and snacking on some carrots.

"Find anything? Maybe we can get Magnus to help us." Jem patted me on the shoulder and glanced at the page I was skimming over. Shaking my head, causing dark strands of hair to fly into my eyes, I slumped into a chair.

"This is completely hopeless; we are going to need an army of shadowhunters to fight them, maybe some warlocks, that is for sure, but we don't have the right weapons to defeat them. Or we could get right into the source. Just get rid of Mortmain, then there will be no one to control them. But with that we will still need a lot of shadowhunters because we know he will have an army with him. That's one of our major problems, getting enough shadowhunters and weapons. These things are hard to defeat." I growled. I had searched far too long and was sleep deprived as well as incredibly hungry. "Can we think of this tomorrow? I need sleep and food." Stretching up I scooped Ella into my arms, who looked equally exhausted and carried her to her room ignoring Jem's protests.

"I'm not a baby, I can walk you know." She yawned, eyes fluttering closed. Letting out a quiet chuckle I placed her into her bed and yanked the covers to her chin, then; surprising myself I kissed her forehead goodnight. Silently escaping the room I headed for the kitchen. I collected a bun from the basket before getting shooed out by Bridgett. Going back to my room I walked past Tessa's room to see Jem sitting beside her, they were whispering to one another, his back was toward the doorway and all I could see of Tessa was her pale face. She still wasn't completely alright, her injuries were healing, but she needed rest.

Stopping at the door I couldn't help but feel a tug of pain in my heart. It rolled over me in waves until I was forced to look away. It was hard to see them together, to know that I wouldn't be with her, that she could never look at me the same way she looked at him. I didn't have a clue what she thought of me, did she hate me, or still love me like before? Of course she had every right to hate me, the way I treated her. And Jem would treat her right; looking back at them I knew I had to be there for him, no matter how much it hurt me.

**Tessa's P.O.V**

Jem sat beside me, one of his hands cupping my cheek, gazing down at me with eyes filled with love and worry. My body ached with the wounds from the clockwork creature but didn't compare to what I had when it first attacked.

"Will and I have it covered. Everything will be alright. You should see Will with Ella, he's so gentle with her, and it's incredible. He cares for her so much." Jem murmured brushing back my hair.

"I know." Glancing behind Jem I noticed a figure standing in the doorway, it was Will. His black hair fell into his eyes that shone even in the darkness of my room and the hall. The look on his face caught me off guard and it hurt me more than any injury could. He couldn't have seen me watching him but he turned away and left my view, probably going off to bed. Letting out a deep sigh I turned my attention back to Jem who was getting up.

"I'm going to go get some sleep, big day ahead of me tomorrow, Will and I will try to figure out a plan with Charlotte. Alright?" Leaning over her brushed his lips against my cheek then left me thinking.

"Alright." I mumbled mostly to myself. Staring at the ceiling, a thought came to my mind. Mortmain knew where we all were but we didn't know where he was, that was the first thing we had to do, but where could he be? Ella. We could find out from her, of course she knew where her dad lived. It seemed too simple, but we could try.

**Ella's P.O.V**

I sat upright tears streaking my cheeks, blankets twisted around my legs and I heard the thumping of someone's feet against the floor. Jem pushed open my door eyes alert, weapon in hand, Will was right behind him, wide awake. I must have screamed like I usually did when I had nightmares. Unlike all the other times though, someone actually came to me to see if I was alright. Will quickly checked the room for intruders while Jem came to my side.

"What's wrong sweetie?" He said collecting me in his arms; he had placed the blade on my bedside table. My body racked with sobs as I clung onto Jem, at this point Will was on the other side of me having finished his search and confident intruders weren't the reason I screamed.

"I had a nightmare, Father was trying to get me with an army of his creatures and they were attacking all of you." I stuttered. Jem exhaled and hugged me tighter while Will rubbed my back. "I do not want that to happen to me!" I howled.

"It won't Ella, I promise it won't. We will do anything we can to stop it." Jem whispered, in the back of my mind I heard more people come, but I was caught up in what Jem was doing. He was singing to me, a gentle, beautiful noise that let me relax and finally fall back into a peaceful sleep.


	6. House Visit

**Tessa's P.O.V**

It was my first time out of bed since the attack, besides going to the washroom, and it felt incredibly nice. Everyone in the institute sat around the table, munching on breakfast, but no one was chatting like usual, all of their eyes were on me.

"So here is my idea. Ella knows where her dad lives, right? She leads us there and we stake it out. Find out as much as we can about it, and then prepare for a battle. What do you think?" I announced.

"It sounds too easy, wouldn't he have thought of that? He would of moved, wouldn't of he?" Charlotte questioned. Bobbing my head in agreement, I went on,

"We could at least try though. Ella do you know where your father lives?" Turning my attention to the young girl sitting beside me I noticed Will was sitting next to her as well. A brotherly compassion filled his eyes as he gazed at her. And that's when it hit me. She had the same name as Will's older sister, who passed away; he seemed so alright with it though, maybe I should speak with him about it.

"Yes, I do." She murmured.

"Then we will go today, take the carriage, she will lead us. It will be a little hard since she is just a child. But we could still probably find it. Will, Jem, Ella, and I will go. Less people will make it easier." Sitting back down, I paused before digging into my food. "We will leave after breakfast." Glancing around me, I saw Jem shaking his head wildly.

"You still aren't up to going anywhere, Tessa. Maybe you should stay here this time." Will nodded his head in agreement, then Charlotte, Henry and Cecily joined in. "We can handle this." I let out a grunt of annoyance, but I knew, with everyone against me, there was no way they would let me go.

"Just promise you will be careful, no going into the house. Please." I decided not to argue, there really was no point.

"Of course not." Will rose from his seat, giving me a wink. Together, Jem, Will and Ella left the room.

**Will's P.O.V**

The three of us sat in the carriage; it bumped around madly as we made our way down the road. Ella had told us it was on the outskirts of London, near a large old warehouse that used to make carriages. It was incredible that she knew so much about the place, but also quite a good thing. We were on our way out to that area, and from there we would get her to lead us. She sat next to me, peering out the window, her blue eyes wide with what seemed like fear.

"It will be alright, we won't let him near you." I whispered giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She slid down in the seat and curled up next to me, head leaning on my side, I wrapped my arm around her, Jem, sitting across from us, gave me a gentle smile.

"We are almost there." His voice was hushed and aimed toward me; he didn't want her to hear. We came to a halt and Cyril opened the door for us.

"We are at the warehouse. I believe the house is in that direction. I didn't see any other houses coming up this way." Cyril affirmed. Ella hopped out after me, and with a quick flicker of her eyes she confirmed it. We started on our way, leaving Cyril waiting safely in the carriage until we got back and soon enough a pleasantly large house rose up in front of us.

The yard was cleanly cut, the house completely white, with a set of stairs leading up to the door. The drive way was quite long, and fancy pillars supported the canopy type roof. There was enough land and trees around the house to easily hide.

"This is the house, I assume?" Jem asked as we slid into the undergrowth and safety of the forest.

"Yes." Was all Ella said, her grip on my hand tightened and she moved so she was closer to me. We came to a spot where we would have a good view of the front of the house and the road just in time to see a carriage pull up, and with amazing luck, out stepped Mortmain, a clockwork person in his wake. I was surprised to see him there; actually, I didn't expect him to be somewhere that his daughter knew of. But I didn't ponder it much longer. The next person to step out of the shook me to the core, it was my mother.

**Ella's P.O.V**

The look on Will's face scared me. It was a mixture of surprise, anger, and worry, he looked like he wanted to run out there at this very moment and tackle my father. That would have been fine by me except for the fact that he would probably get hurt. It was the woman that made him look that way, though. The clockwork man had her arms held behind her back and was half dragging, half carrying her up to the house. Will jerked forward but Jem caught him just in time.

"Will, no. We can't just run in there and stop him. I have a feeling that he's just doing this as a trade. Your mother for Ella. We will get her, but not right now. We can't let him know we know where he lives. Right now, we are going to finish looking this place over then leave. And once we get back to the institute we will figure out a plan. And come back in the next few days, make it seem like she escaped. Understand?" Jem held Will at arm's length, staring him directly in the eyes. Will gently nodded his head then pulled away and took my hand once again.

We circled around the house a few times; I stayed quiet while the boys went over some ways to get into the house. They asked me questions about where everything was and what room each window connected to. I had spent most of my life in this house, my father hadn't been there very often, but the creatures were.

"Let us get going, I have a pretty good idea of the layout of this place. We should go back and make sure our paths are covered up." Will announced in a whisper. Heading back around to where we started, we covered our marks.

"We should check out that warehouse as well." Will suggested, and we did just that. With a silence only made possible by shadowhunters, Will carried me in his arms, we crept inside the building. "I knew it. This is where Mortmain makes his clockwork creatures." Glancing around I noticed all of the old machine parts and bits and pieces of metal. The building was filled with them, as well as work benches and tools.

"We should leave. I don't want anyone to catch us here." Jem nudged Will forward; we got out of the building and around the corner before we saw the two creatures heading up to the warehouse. "I don't want to be around here when they get here." Racing back to the carriage we saw Cyril ready for us, with one final look behind us, I hopped inside and we left it all behind.


End file.
